Redemption
by PyroNaga
Summary: A mysterious creature/ soul unlocks a dangerous potential in a miserable Ron.
1. Ch1:prologue

I obviously do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters in this story (except Pyro); otherwise I would make another episode of it instead of writing a story. Note: this tale takes place after _Bad Boy _butbefore_ So The Drama_; so Zorpox has surfaced but Kim and Ron are not dating.

Redemption ch1: Prologue

Middleton high school

A generally bummed Ron Stoppable enters the wide halls of his school. His left pocket feeling lighter than ever.

Last night's fiasco with professor Dementer sent Rufus to the vet.

"What should I do? If I don't bring Rufus with me, Kim and I might get into a situation we can't get out of." He thought to himself. "Then again when I do bring him, something like this happens every once in a while."

Then it hit him, he wouldn't have abuse Rufus so much if he could just be more of a competent fighter like Kim, the poor little buddy was suited to disarm traps and bite through ropes and such. Not standing up to henchmen being zapped by lasers. (Which he did and was.)

But workout was always such a pain to Ron with the tight unpredictable schedule of world saving he had, not to mention, the exercise needed a certain naco-free diet which he simply could NOT accept.

"Maybe I should discuss this with Kim… "He muttered to himself before he found his butt hitting the hard floor.

"Watch where you're going Stoppable… "Some jock with undisguised hate called out. Who passed by, knocking him down.

"Yeah, before you blow another game." Followed by the voice of Brick Flagg who accompanied the jock.

Ron scrambled himself up from the ground, noticing the leers he was getting from everybody.

"Ahh man… I though they forgot."

Apparently they didn't. Right before the mission, another misfortune had happened to Ron.

(Flashback)

It was an important game with another school's football team where everyone was getting ready, including the players, cheerleaders and the beloved mad dog mascot, Ron Stoppable.

Ron was running "mad dog" style when he suddenly stumbled and crashed into the girls pyramid.

This caused a loud gasp to release from the audience. And apparently the whole ruckus distracted the quarterback Brick Flagg so he lost his balance…

(Back to the present)

He continued down the hallway to find Kim, walking fast to avoid the crowd from encircling him.

"Such a loser…"

"Now his bringing us down…"

"Look at him, just walking shamelessly…"

"The nerve on that kid…"

Finally reaching his locker in a less populated area (thank god for that) he tended to his business while desperately waiting for Kim.

Sweating and wildly tapping his foot to the ground he was startled when Kim appeared behind him saying "Ron?"

"Aaahhh."

"Calm down Ron, it's me. What's with the sweat?" She asked."You look like as if someone's after you."

"Um… it's… nothing… just that… eh… nothing. Yeah, totally nothing, um you?" He stuttered rather than replying.

"Oookay, now that that's solved…" She just figured that he would spill sooner or later."…What's with the foot tapping, don't tell me that you're waiting for the bell to ring."

"Ha-ha that's a good one. That's…" He laughed nervously.

"It's about the game, isn't it." She interrupted.

"Yes." He Hung his head down as he admitted.

"Look…" Her face turning serious. "I already told you, the girls have the right to be mad at you but Brick should have focused on his game. It's not your fault if they lost. I thought we established that on the mission…" Her frown quickly being replaced by obvious concern. "How's Rufus by the way?"

"He's pulling through... And about the game, I know it wasn't my but I wish everyone else could see that too…" He stopped Kim before she could say anything. "I know, I know… they're doing this to lift the blame off themselves but I can't help but wonder KP, if I wasn't such a stumble toes, none of this would have ever happened, Rufus would be fine and we would have won the game and…and I would be able to protect you better." He silently muttered out the last part, But still too loud for comfort.

Kim gasped at this, she expected him to say that he would be able to save the day on his own and people would notice him more and stuff like that, but instead he cared more about the school and Rufus (well, not much surprise on Rufus). And protect her? Was that the true reason he insisted to help Kim with her missions?

"Ron, you don't need to protect me." She smiled knowing how much Ron cared for her. "The reason I bring you along is that I like having you around. You're funny and supportive and since the missions usually end up okay there is no need to change anything, you know what they say _don't try to fix it if it's not broken_, huh?"

He had once again dropped his head at some point and hadn't moved it ever since.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll help you sign up for some Kung Fu classes."

"Oh yeah, that's what I've been meaning to talk to you about…" He seemed to lighten up a bit right before...

(School bell rings)

"We'll talk later." And with that said, she bolted to her class.

Everyone else did the same and pretty soon the hall was empty…almost.

He leaned against his locker, after hitting it with his clenched fist and the back of his head.

"Gimme a break." He whispered to no one in particular as he sank to his knees.

"How about a detention?" The ex-marine/sub-principle/sub-teacher/ex-lieutenant/ football-team-coach known also as Steve Barkin rhetorically suggested.

But as if fate was twisting in his favor, that day was the day for the schools field-trip/sleepover.

So he would have his break. A mental breakdown.


	2. ch2:Mental Breakdown

Redemption ch2: Mental Breakdown

Middleton school field trip

Entering the bus, he found that just about everyone was somehow covering the vacant seats to avoid sharing with him.

Although he didn't need them, he felt depressed about it as he sat next to Kim.

"Turn down the drama Ron, they'll probably forget about it having fun on the field trip."Kim soothed her best friend.

"Or while Mr. Barkin is forcing them to do pushups." He weakly joked. His still present depressed features caused Kim to think. He didn't have his happy laid-back devil-may-care funny yet immature attitude that usually bounced back after any kind of humiliation, maybe he needed a break. When the next mission came up Kim would have to make sure he stayed, since apparently he didn't do it for the thrill of adventure or anything like that. Kim blushed remembering what he said to her and knowing how much he cared for her.

The rest of the ride went without much hitch other than a few snide remarks from Bonnie and the others in the expense of Ron.

The destination was a forest on the outskirts of Middleton. The bus pulled to a stop near a ranger post.

"Alright ladies, get out here and line up." Mr. Barkin ordered. "The park ranger Mr. Mc. Henry will be our guide; he has over 16 years of experience, so you will follow his instructions to the letter."

Out of the ranger cabin came out a middle-aged bored-looking man in a ranger outfit with sunglasses and short pants revealing his unshaved legs.

His obesity suggested that most of his 16 years experience consisted of downing beer and other beverages in front of the TV.

"Alright kids, we need to get to campsite before sundown, so there's no time to dilly-dally." He said in deep southern accent. "Follow me."

The party came upon a river to deep to cross. So the ranger led the others to a rocky pathway across the river.

Ron however spotted a shortcut, a tree had fallen over the river; wide enough for him to cross. So he separated from the group knowing they would not approve of his choice and they all might be too heavy for the poor already dead tree anyway.

So he carefully walked across the tree only to fall halfway up into the river. Thankfully his belt caught a branch, leaving him dangling and floating on the water. "Phew, saved by the belt." He soothed himself. But suddenly the belt gave away at the force of the water, making him hug the tree for dear life and is pants to descend revealing his boxers. "A very lousy belt."

"Hang on, pun intended." The ranger chuckled as he rushed over to help him out of the water.

"Don't you mean 'hug on'?" Bonnie said trying to further embarrass him.

As he was helped out of the river he tossed his back pack aside and wearily crawled out of the water in his wet outfit.

"Stick to the group, turkey kid. You got any extra clothes?" The ranger asked.

Suddenly he tensed up. "Uhm, no…no but it's alright I can…"

"Are these your extra clothes?" Bonnie smiled, holding a rather small kiddy-colorful sweater, next to his unzipped back pack.

They laughed at him. And his cheeks turned red, both in shame and a bit of anger.

That sweater was for six years back; and the only thing his mother got for him as backup.

Forced to wear the ridiculous sweater he followed the group and thought about Kim and the fact that he couldn't find her. So he asked the ranger.

"Saw her talkin' to a phone-lookin' do-hickey, she then told me that she had to bail, knowin' her she's probably savin' the world or somethin'."

He frowned, why didn't Kim bring him along too. "Oh yeah, it's because I'm dead weight." He sadly thought.

…

He ran through the dark woods which where dimly illuminated by the moon; His breathing unsteady and his eyes bleeding tears. His fears of darkness were no longer the least of his concerns. He just needed to get away, to be alone to consider his options.

"…No one would even know, least of all care…" a voice in his head called out to him.

"…All except Kim and Rufus…" a more optimistic voice defended Ron.

"You drag her down, her social status, her safety during missions with your so-called protection." The other voice countered. "She may even cry but it would be for her own good."

"He's right." Another voice joined in. "Besides Rufus would have Kim to look out for her, he's the one that frees her from traps, not you."

He sat down, leaning against a tall tree. Now that everyone was asleep and Kim still hadn't returned he could think about the things he would do as his last... but maybe…

"Think about it, the longer you wait around for a miracle to happen, the more you suffer…" The first voice presented another reason.

"You really shouldn't do it, you know." Yet another voice implied, although this voice was mature and had a certain determination in it. "Destiny **is** a bitch, but you shouldn't put her down considering how much she and the world are counting on you."

"What the heck do you mean by that?" the other voice was really confused.

No answer.

"I said…" the voice tried again.

"Wait a minute." Ron said as his eyes shot open and he got up to search for the owner of the voice as he realized it didn't belong to his head. Although it was dark he could definitely tell that nobody was out there. He was about to sit down again until…

"Up here." He searched for the voice again that seemed to be calling out from behind him. Then he found the source of confusion.

A shadowy figure was sitting on a thick branch of the very same tree Ron was sitting next to a few moments ago. It was leaning against the tree, an arm resting on its raised knee and… disturbingly white pupil-less eyes staring at him.

Ron was shocked to say the least as he at least expected that it was the ranger, Bonnie or Kim or some of the other kids or anyone but this… His first guess was that it might be some of the ninjas of Yamanochi, but they would have a Japanese accent and in general they wouldn't talk like that.

"Who are you?" Was the only thing that he could say as he wiped his tears away.

"Sit down; we're going to have a talk." The figure replied in his way of answering. "You might think that hope is lost but remember this; 'hope can never be lost, not with breath still in your lungs'…."

"Hey, that rhymes… a bit." Ron interrupted despite his depressed state.

"Unintentional." The figure stated as he waved his hand in dismissal. "Now back to the point… that saying carries a lot more weight in your case..."

"You're just saying that…" Ron interrupted again.

"There is a powerful potential locked deep within that misused brain of yours." The figure countered loudly as he tried to make him see that he wasn't trying to sooth him by lying (which people do frequently) but he was lifting his spirits by telling him the truth. "And it's connected to the mystical monkey incident."

"What do mean by misused brain?" Ron asked, clenching his fists.

"It's the reason that you don't function properly in society."

"Huh?"

"Hmmph, the Reason that… how should I put this…" He seemed to be pondering as if trying to find the correct term. "YOU'RE A LOSER."

"Oh." Ron muttered out loud as he was beginning to grasp the issue. "HEY!"

"But it's not your fault." The figure backed down."It's your parents's fault."

"Ookay I'm officially confused."

"You see, your parents rarely take an interest in your life, your birth was unplanned and they don't have good jobs to earn a nice cash flow… to put it simply and for the lack of a better term, your parents are irresponsible slackers." The shadowy figure analyzed, its eyes were staring at the horizon.

"STOP INSULTING ME AND MY FAMILY." Even though it seemed to make sense he was definitely crossing the line here so he could take no more; he took a stone and threw it towards the shadow, however clouded by anger his stone hit the nothing but air just a few centimeters away from his head.

The figure didn't even flinch but slowly turned his head and glanced at him, as if saying _'are you kidding me?_' then he merely returned to gaze at the horizon.

Ron's second shot however went straight towards his head. But without so much as a glance he moved his hand in a gentle sweeping motion and caught the second stone but he didn't drop it or throw it back; instead he clenched his hand into a fist… moments later he slowly released his captive and small bits of stone and a bit of dust escaped his grip. All the while never breaking his gaze but breaking down Ron's angry courage for he was taken back at his dramatic show of skill and strength.

"Moving along…" he seemed displeased of Ron's anger demonstration considering the tone of voice he was using. But deep down the physic/ninja figure expected it. "The result of such ignorant parents makes an uneducated misunderstood social outcast." Before Ron could say '_huh?_' again he quickly added. "A loser."

"Look, I don't see why you're wasting your time with me. As Bonnie and other kids at my school like to put it…"

"You know, you really don't know Bonnie in the least. She actually has a very fragile soul." The creature's hand opened to reveal a tiny purple sparkle of fire that continued to float in mid-air a few centimeters away from the palm of the creature's hand; then he started toying with the sparkle with his fingers as if examining Bonnie's soul. Now Ron was certain that he wasn't dealing with a human being or at least not an ordinary one.

"I'm going to train you to be able to deal with her, and once I'm done, you'll be able to mend her soul…" On queue the sparkle of purple light bloomed brighter and turned into a fireball.

"Or BREAK it." His open palm turned into a fist and swallowed the fireball. "The choice will be yours." He gestured towards Ron.

"Why would I want to break it?"

"Retribution!"

"You mean payback?"

"Close, I mean revenge!"

Ron gulped; those two words seemed… evil.

"Anyway, I'm going to train you to be able to use your mind and body to the fullest."

"How do you know if my brain isn't a dud?" He tried to defend himself by implying that he can use the tools at his disposal well enough but then he realized that he was insulting his own brain.

"Because someone else used it and is currently a genius."

"What?"

"Zorpox!"

"Zorpox is dead!" He countered.

"You can NEVER kill him without killing yourself first; no, he's not dead but he's buried deep within…"

"So what you're saying is that you will help me improve myself?" Then he folded his arms across his chest. "What's the catch?"

"You will undergo heavy pain and punishment." The creature broke his gaze and turned to look at him. If it wasn't the fact that he was still shrouded in darkness and even the fireball from a few minutes ago strangely didn't illuminate him, Ron would have noticed the sad look he was giving him. "And you might never be the same again."

"Uhhh great… more suffering." Ron thought. "But maybe it could help Kim…"

"And to answer your next question, you would be able to protect Kim a whole lot more efficiently." The creature interrupted his thoughts.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND." He growled

"Oh, of course not." The creature rolled his eyes." I never said that she was." With the love puppy way he followed Kim around, she might as well put a collar on him.

Ron was pinned down, for he nailed it right on the spot. Ron would move heaven and hell to protect Kim. And this creature, yet mysterious, was handing him the opportunity to excel at that.

"If I were to accept, where would we train?" He pretended to be still considering.

The creature dropped down from the branch and after he silently landed, he turned to face him. "Come back here tomorrow at six. I'd like to begin as soon as possible so feel free to drop by even earlier"

"Right here, but I even don't know this place but only the forest's location…"

"Don't worry, as soon as you set foot in the woods, I will know you're here."

"Alright, I'm sick of this life, if you can change it… then… then I ACCEPT."

The creature eyes closed and he seemed to be smiling. "She's coming, I must go."

"Wait, what about your name?"

"You may call me… Pyro."

"Ron… Ron… what are doing out here?" Kim's voice called out from behind him. Ron turned and seconds later he found Kim running towards him with a flash light.

"Oh nothing, just… "He glanced back at the creature's direction, hoping to get a good look at him with the brightness of Kim's flash light. His hopes were dashed away however as he seemed to vanish in thin air. "… Enjoying the peace and quiet."

"Ron, it's midnight." She looked at him skeptically.

"Is it? Um, well I guess time sure flies by when you're having fun, huh?"

She eyed him suspiciously but then yawned and realizing how tired she was, just shrugged it off. "Okay Zen boy, just remember to do that near the camp next time so I can find you faster. Now let's go back, I'm exhausted."

"Oh, I just remembered, why didn't you bring me along to help with the mission?"

"I just thought you might need a break, is all. When I found everyone asleep except you, I came looking for you, not wanting to bother the others I came alone."

"Well, thanks for doing that for me."

"No big, it's what best friends…" Her eyes roamed from his eyes to his upper body. "Umm… what's with the sweater?"

…

Authors note: Reviews are what make me excited about writing and give me a sense of guilt when I'm not writing and make you guys wait longer than you have to. So write a review and (most likely pointlessly) wait for a response. Criticisms will be accepted too for I'm trying to find my weaknesses as a writer so I could improve myself.


	3. Ch3:Is It Worth It?

Author's note: phew, I skipped a whole night sleep to finish chapter 2 (and some more to finish 3). I'd like to shed some glimpses of the future here, so prepare yourselves. See the cover image I chose for the story, yeah that; click on it to zoom in, you will notice a slight difference that you might not have noticed before; all I can say is that the futuristic warrior is not Pyro…

Redemption Ch3: Is it worth it?

Those strange woods

Weeks and weeks of suffering that Pyro called 'training' had gone less and less intolerable after each session.

The cold breeze in direct contact with his bare skin was forcing him to keep moving at a high pace to generate much needed warmth. (After a few sessions Pyro stated that his body needed to _'come in touch with the elements'_.) As if arrows whooshing by your ear weren't enough motivation. His only relive was that recently a load of rocks were taken from his back pack and he was still wearing his pants. He was spared the extra weight because now he was dashing through obstacles to avoid the arrows. Even though they weren't metal-tipped, they left a mark and hurt like hell and even if wasn't that wasn't enough the rain of arrows slowly intensifies behind you so staying in one place with impressive dodging skills still meant inevitable death.

"Drop five." As commanded he dropped and preformed five pushups. He noticed a tiny, crushed, half-buried micro-chip on the ground as he did…

(Flashback)

There the figure sat still on a branch not answering any of his questions; he had a wicked long leg dangling from the branch and… '_Those freaking white eyes again_'. It was making him nervous.

"Dude, why are you looking at me funny?" Pyro rolled his eyes as he continued to examine him, which was hard to tell because he had barely visible white pupils.

"She really did put a collar on you." He said instead of answering and smirked.

"Okay dude, I'm telling you, something's definitely wrong with your eyes, I'm not a dog and even if I was no one could tame the mad dog." He put on a false pose of bravado but then he turned around and quickly felt up and down his neck just to check. Now that he had rested after the field trip his buffoonish antics were back.

By the time he finished checking his neck, he felt a blow to his head and then everything blurred instantly into darkness… Sometime later he awoke and groaned as he felt a headache.

"What happened?" He raised his right hand to rest it on his forehead only to put it back down again for he felt a painful surge washed over him and he realized it was from his right arm; his eyes shot open and saw that his forearm was wrapped in a bloodied bandage.

"I cut through the flesh to… confiscate this tracking micro-chip." Pyro's voice seemingly came from nowhere (maybe he wasn't 100% conscious). Then suddenly a tiny contraption landed on his lap.

"MICRO-CHIP? Wait a minute, you knocked me out!"

"I'd rather say that I spared you consciousness." Pyro snorted. "I thought the mad dog didn't want to be leashed."

"How'd you know, and who…?"

"Didn't Kim find you a little too quickly; she didn't even ask for help from any of the campers and might I add she was shouting '_Ron, what are you doing here?_' before she even saw you, instead of 'Ron, where are you?'. Because she knew where you were!"

"Okay, this definitely is a chip but Kim would never do this to me, she could have Wade do satellite thermal imaging scan of the park; no it must be someone else." As he defended his bf and struggled to find out whom else would need to know of his location without his knowledge.

"That would explain how she found the campsite of gathering warmth, but you aren't the only life form in this forest and you can be easily mistaken for a deer or a wolf."

"I won't believe you, she doesn't do stuff like that, Wade must have had another trick, I don't know…" Ron's eyes widened. "There are WOLVES here?"

Pyro's hand caressed a small knife that had once been a fang. "Oh, they won't bother us. And about the chip, '_believe_' me not, just go and ask them yourself." He suggested.

"No, thank you; now when will you begin your stupid training?" Out of anger he threw the chip away.

"We'll have to wait for your forearm to heal first, go back home and I mean straight home and sleep. We'll continue this tomorrow. And to answer your next question, yes it will heal over night."

(Back to present)

"Maybe I should check on it after all." He thought to himself as he quickly and silently slipped the micro-chip into his pocket. But Pyro saw this and couldn't be happier about it. He had strategically placed the chip there for Ron to find it; and now that he picked it up, it meant that Ron was warming up to him but not showing it at the surface. The dose he was giving Ron was making him sneaky and wary of even his closest friends.

The whooshing of the arrows stopped but Ron knew they would start again as soon as he got up so he sprinted too quickly and didn't notice that he was going downhill, literary. He was rolling but quickly found his footing and slid down the hill until he reached a flat clearing. He quickly spotted a wooden dummy and realized it as a part of his training.

"Break the arm and then snap the head." Pyro ordered. And so Ron locked his arm with the dummy's extended limb but saw that it was too hard to break.

"Hard oak." Pyro said to answer his unspoken question. Ron didn't relent though, instead he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then opened them again to reveal glowing blue eyes. He drove his shoulder into the dummy's arm with an unearthly might and snapped it right out of the socket and dropped it on the ground. Without hesitation and with lightening speed he stepped behind the dummy and snapped its head as well with an inhuman growl. Taking a deep breath his blue glow faded back to his chocolate brown eyes.

But before he could celebrate, he disbelievingly spotted yet another dummy in the clearing. "Break both arms then a high kick to the face. Use your legs this time."

He wanted nothing more than to collapse right then and there. This wasn't part of the training course; even though he was always extending it, this time it was devastating. What's more is that Pyro expected him to not only to pass every time, but also break his previous record every time.

"No, I mustn't give him the satisfaction of backing out yet. I've come TOO FAR." And truth of the matter was that he had. Jumping from platform to platform, swinging through monkey bars, rock climbing, dashing through obstacles and dispatching dummies every so often would take the wind out of you.

With a primal roar he sprinted towards his foe. Its arms were extended in a manner to make it look like it was preparing to wrestle someone (Perfect position for breaking them). His eyes burning blue Ron took the left arm and broke the elbow with his right knee. Without delay he then took the other arm, kicked and broke it with his right foot sending splinters across the place. Not bothering to lower his leg he jumped in air and spun around to land a kick to the dummy's face. The stubborn head didn't snap loose but the dummy's entire firmly planted body jumped a foot and fell to the ground.

"Good; his mystical monkey powers are responding to him more often than usual." Pyro thought. It was one of the major points of all this, forcing the monkey mojo to show itself. Since they were responsive to him in emergencies and tight situations, Pyro would put Ron in such stressful predicaments so he can familiarize himself with his powers.

Ron landed on his aching knee, breathing heavy but he didn't relax. It was supposed to be over but you could never be sure.

"At ease." His master stepped out from behind a tree and made his first appearance of the session. He never did so unless it was night out. The only details Ron could make out of his appearance was that he had legs a little too long for his body, he wore black leather pants and a short torn dark robe/cape that covered most of his upper body and that his long coal black hair covered his face like a hood. "Good performance but not exactly perfect."

"WHAT do you mean?" Pyro's eyes trailed off to his right leg. Ron himself followed his gaze and scanned his leg and saw that his pant was torn near the ankle and there, among many old scars was a bloody arrow wound, yet the arrow itself wasn't there but it was very evident that it was a an arrow wound.

"Don't worry; when the adrenaline is gone it'll hurt like hell." He 'soothed' Ron.

"Oh, cut the crap… impressing you is… harder than getting Rufus to quit on cheese… how about you just shut up." Ever since the near-suicide experience Ron hadn't cared much about his language and as he put it, he was just waiting around for this training to fail so he could kill himself. But Pyro knew better; it was the pain, something necessary to quick development. And it wasn't just from the physical training…

"Would you care to know of your time?"

"I know… I know… I didn't break the record and frankly I don't care 'cause you always make it impossible."

"Impossible huh? Don't be so sure about it." He smirked.

"If you think you can do it, then why don't you?"

"I don't need to, because you already did it. That's right, you time is ten minutes and forty seconds." Ron managed to hide his surprise (but that made him quiet); that was more than one minute less than last time. "Drink from the vial and head home, you're almost ready…"

He threw a vial of colorless liquid to Ron and he caught it eagerly to suck up the sour yet much needed moisture but he hesitated instead. "Never told me what's in it, Pyro. It tastes like crap and I think it's the thing that's been screwing with my head." It was a tough period for him, he couldn't think straight and every breath felt like a punch to his stomach.

"If you want this to end soon you better take it." Ron complied but didn't like the bitter taste. "Before it can build you, it must break you. And it's starting at the very core; Think of a computer that shuts down to install updates; your mind is not operating at 100% efficiency just because of that reason. But it will end tomorrow and I'll tell you about the contents of the vial then."

…

Middleton high school

…

Kim Possible opened her locker and turned on her computer for a glum looking Afro-American tech guru to appear on it.

"No luck, Wade?" She rhetorically asked.

"No, I lost the signal again but get this, last time I sent two robots to the forest to keep an eye on each other while following Ron with stealth mode on. But both were taken out at the exact same time, well nearly at the exact same time…" Wade's image was replaced by two videos playing at the same time, both showing seemingly empty spaces in a forest. "Rolling the last seconds of the footage. See the empty spaces, those are where the invisible robots are, they are watching each other with extra optical sensors and with the main ones they are watching Ron." Suddenly, something that looked like a bolt of white light hit the first invisible robot and one footage went dead. The first robot was sparkling electricity and it looked like its cloaking field was going to turn off, but then the second footage went dead too leaving Kim to guess what happened next. It all happened in barely a second.

"I'll rewind to the moment that thing hit my robot… and pause." Wade said angrily as he typed. The footage rolled back to the forementioned moment and revealed the white light hitting the robot. It was still too fast to identify. "This as much as I could enhance the video." Then the white light turned to a dagger.

"Hit the power section, huh?" She said and Wade nodded. "Well, somebody likes to live in the middle ages."

"I even put another camera running on backup power; just in case it wasn't signal scrambling that took out my robots. It's located at the rear of the robot so it's harder to notice." Another video appeared to show the footage. It seemed peaceful at first but then some sounds of electricity went off and few seconds after that, all the camera could record was fire and pretty soon it went dead. "Of course I was careful and had been checking for heat signatures every step of the way but not much heat sign of even a squirrel was near the robots during the attack, you know, until the fire."

"Well, maybe it's because they were hit from long range or maybe it was motion detecting security um… knife throwers, I mean it could work, they would trick us into thinking that it's not the work of an automatic security machine." She suggested.

"First off, nobody could throw knives from that far." At this Kim smirked and raised an eyebrow which meant '_care to wager on that?_'. Wade's face hardened."Oh, come on Kim, through thick woods? Not to mention the ground isn't flat. Secondly, there isn't a surge of electricity in the forest, you know, except the ranger's post. Finally, I think no one would go through that much trouble just to trick us; why build a knife thrower when you could just throw in a laser or something."

"Humph, just giving out suggestions." She shrugged but then an idea hit her. "Hey maybe it's a synthodrone. They don't generate heat and don't use electricity, right?"

"It could be but drakken's in prison, for now."

"No, Drakken was never so smart to elude you for so long before, why start now? No, we're dealing with something new. Wade, why don't you send in another one and have it watched by an airborne observer like a satellite? Or maybe I need to take this seriously and deal with it personally."

"No Kim, it might be more dangerous than you can handle."

"Are you forgetting who I am?"

"My invisible robots didn't hear, see or heat trace anything. What makes you think you can do it or protect your neck from a seemingly self-flying knife." Kim had to admit. He had a point. "And frankly Kim, I can't afford to lose another one, we don't exactly have the funding of CIA behind us. Besides don't you think you should just ask him?"

"I do, he just won't tell me." She looked irritated. "He's never kept a secret from me for so long."

"Well then maybe it's not right of us to spy on him; if he won't tell you so be it. Everybody's supposed to have secrets."

"What do you expect from me, after the field trip he's suddenly gone all quiet, rarely smiling, he's always in the shadows and I barely see or hear from him after six. I mean we used to do most of our mission at night and… I really miss him." She looked like she was going to cry about it.

"I… really don't know what to say Kim." He looked at her trying to find the right words to sooth her.

At some point within the conversation Ron silently leaned on his locker arms-folded and dressed in a dark jacket with a hood covering most of his face which made him completely anonymous. He never let anyone other than Kim and Wade recognize him in it. At places that he was supposed to be acknowledged (like classes) he would use his normal outfit. That ultimately meant almost nobody knew the man under the black hood. The door of Kim's locker didn't let her to see him so he had already heard enough of the conversation to know what they were talking about.

"Ahh well, might as well play along." He thought. He didn't want them to know how good he became at eavesdropping undetected or they would be careful about what they say and slip up sensitive information less frequently.

"Hey Kim, Wade, what are we talking about? Mission related?" He said casually, startling them both. Ron resisted the urge to roll his eyes as they tried to look innocent.

"RON, you scared…" But Kim was interrupted however by the school bell, rescuing them and even Ron for he had the feeling that she was going to start asking him questions again to lift the finger of blame off herself.

…

High school cafeteria

...

Almost nobody ever saw Ron stoppable again or at least recognized him. Some people that knew him even thought he was transferred or something. The jocks had fun picking on him and referring to him as the loser, the cheerleaders never really needed the mascot but they too had fun laughing at him whenever he made a mistake or did something funny, Felix had a lot less interesting and loyal buddies because of his wheelchair problem. Tara never really had a go at him because of Bonnie reminding her that he was at the bottom of the food chain; but a secret crush was still a secret crush. Monique liked him as a friend and knew that Kim having Ron as her best friend since forever, would fall apart if the wall she had learned to lean on and draw strength from, suddenly vanished. So Monique would lose two friends in the end.

And Bonnie… well at first little miss perfect being unhappy recently, felt good and that loser being gone seemed cool (even though she ignored her whenever she insulted her about how a loser left her)… maybe it was a bit of jealousy too, they way he always stuck by Kim no matter what, seemed obsessive… it seemed weird… it seemed sweet. But now that he was out of the picture, the scales would tip in her favor… yet it wasn't making _her_ happy, it just made another hole in her. Every time she called him a loser she was actually screaming '_This is not who I am, I've just been hurt too many times. Please show me affection so I can trust you, I would gladly give up my position for someone like you, I just need to know if you like me back._'

The truth was that the entire school missed him, for different reasons, but they still missed him. Heck even Barkin missed his antics (Ron would let him see him since he was still a student.) for secretly he had high hopes for the boy. He had a strong willpower hidden within his lazy exterior and he (from experience) knew that.

Ron (now back in his stealth jacket) applied no complains as the lunch lady filled his platter with the usual mystery meat gravy. He wanted nothing more to say than 'Ahh gross.' or 'Could you please give me something else to eat?' but Pyro instructed him not to talk or do any other activities unless absolutely necessary and that he would not tell him why until he is ready.

"I am actually quiet envious of your situation sometimes; people hardly notice you when you talk and try to grab their attention, if you don't talk you might as well be invisible." Bits of memory of his master coming back to him.

A jock sitting at a 'Cool peoples' table noticed the hood guy's face for a second as he turned from the cafeteria lady to go for his seat. "Nah, it couldn't be." He shook his head. "Well, this guy seemed cool enough to hang with us, but since he's always heading to the nerd section, maybe he is a nerd at heart. Better claim this territory before others do." He thought as the hooded guy was passing by him.

It was how things were done the bully way; a bully would start picking on you for a few days, then he would promise not to hurt you again as long you paid for your 'protection'. If you don't accept it will get only get worse, if you do accept, from then on you will be tagged and no one will pick on you again, unless if it is strictly for pleasure and with no intention of taking over the territory, the only way to gain or lose territory is by fighting or trading between the jocks.

So he extended his foot in the man's path and the feet painfully contacted, for it was the same foot that had the arrow wound near it. He did not trip over however as the pain merely fueled his anger. Instead he pushed with such a force that the back of the jock's foot hit the metal support of his chair badly. Without a word or even a glance Ron randomly chose a seat and sat down. The sounds of the jock's feet hitting the metal however raised some attention…

"…Did that guy hit Brad or something…?"

"…What will he do about it…?" The crowd whispered.

As if hearing the whispers the jock got up and walked over to Ron's seat. "Hey dude, what's your damage?" He shouted at him.

No answer, he just looked at his food. So Brad grabbed Ron's platter and poured the contents onto his jacket in an effort to provoke him. "Ahhh, looks like you dropped your food."

Still no reaction, '_Please don't do this, just walk away._' But Ron ignoring him only made him angrier. "I said…" He raised his voice as his hand moved towards the hood to remove it.

A brief contact was all that was needed. Ron right hand shot up and grabbed Brad's and then forced it behind him like if he was about to cuff him. Now standing, he grabbed the back of his collar with his other hand and slammed the bully to the table to prevent him from trying anything else; he was about to get up when Ron slammed him to the table again. The bully had his face turned towards his direction and Ron recognized him as the same jock who knocked him down on field trip day.

He moved towards his ear and shouted "I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME, JERK." And with that said he threw him backwards and the jock landed on his butt.

"Never had an appetite for this anyway." He said as he cleaned his jacket and threw some of the gravy at Brad's face. Looking across the room he noticed that he was getting a lot of attention. '_Pyro's not gonna like this._' So he turned and walked away with his hands in his pockets like as if nothing happened.

"What's this guy doing? This isn't procedure. If you wanna become a bully by showing the other gangs that you're tough, you're supposed to have some guys watch your back. This dude's just messing with us with his solo show. An easy target." The other jocks pondered.

Sensing a projectile cleave through the air behind him Ron bended his waistline sideways as he smoothly dodged a platter and then he turned towards the source which was Brad.

"…Wow…"

"…Did you see that…?" the crowd whispered again.

"I'm not done with you." Brad said as he hid his surprise. Ron wanted to pay him no mind and walk…

"Guys, you're in my way." Ron said without turning. He knew that his enemy's courage meant that he had reinforcements coming and from the footsteps he felt behind, he knew that they were close.

Both of his arms were captured from behind and Brad started to walk towards him. It was pretty obvious that what would happen if he gave in. He had other plans however… Suddenly he cocked his head to one side for he sensed someone new enter the cafeteria. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Barkin. He knew from experience that the sub-principle wouldn't stop the fight right now but he would sneak behind his victims so they couldn't run away; that meant winning or losing the fight still meant detention; good thing he didn't plan on staying.

He pulled his right hand then drove it back towards his right captor's nose, breaking it. Doing a judo move he slammed the guy on his left to the ground.

Now free, he bolted towards the exit, sliding under a cheerleader's table on his way out. The cheerleaders gasped and jumped out of their seats as he slid. He was finally out of the cafeteria and in the hallways as he took several deep breaths to push images that he recorded under the girls table, to the back of his mind, for he had to focus on losing an angry pursuer.

He knew that the people watching him run wild, would tell about the direction he took, so reaching the door to another hall he slowed down, took deep breaths and opened the door…

Barkin had already stated that the three bullies had earned themselves a detention, now he had a slippery fish to catch so he ran after it, followed by a mob of curious students. As Ron predicted, the students present at _hall A_ had been helpful to the sub-principle and told him that the hooded guy in black ran to _hall B_, but upon arriving there he found that the students there didn't see the particular runaway.

"I saw a hooded guy here a moment ago but I didn't see where he went." Said a student.

"So what, he disappeared into thin air?" Steve barkin asked rhetorically. He had never lost a student in a hunt; sure there were times when students ran away but he would remember them and give them detention later but this time he didn't even see the runaway's face. Out of desperation he proceeded to search _hall C_ and so did the mob.

Unnoticed by all, a man dressed in a grey shirt with a hood was hiding in plain sight, leaning on a locker; when the dust settled, so to speak, he went to put the grey shirt he _borrowed_ from a left-open locker of some careless guy who was chatting up some girls, back to place. Again, the guy didn't notice him when he put it back.

Ron in his usual jersey walked back towards his locker to put to the black jacket there so he could use it again after a while when Barkin would have forgotten about it.

He was pleased with himself. He stood up to bullies, evaded detention and most important of all, his secret identity was safe unless… he found that an angry looking emerald-eyed red-headed woman was blocking his way with her arms folded. It turned out that he wasn't left unnoticed by all after all. The crime-fighting cheerleader had a sharp eye and was familiar with methods of hiding in plain sight.

"Pretty slick stuff, Ron." She caught his arm and angrily pulled him to a janitor's closet…

…

Author's notes: I'm sure glad that I'm not Ron right now…

Yep, we are all unstable blocks of brick that could fall apart at anytime. True best friends give us balance and helps us build higher. I may not seem like such a guy but I've never had a loyal best friend and I'm anti-social. Please, cherish you best friends, loyal ones are rare in where I live. (Although Pyro says that it's a mistake to rely on best friends in the first place.)

Ron final test awaits him at the woods…

The school bullies aren't anywhere near done with him…

Will Bonnie get a chance to redeem herself…?

What ever happened to Rufus…?

Will you guys ever give me criticisms…?

Throw me suggestions people, participate in my poll and tell me if Ron should have a harem in the future and who should be in it. (Warning: Shego will not be in it and Kim is already in.) Got questions? Give them to me.

Next up, Pyro will share some deadly secrets with Ron.

P.S. I'm working on Pyro's picture and will replace my profile pic with it soon.


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